Marin Voice: Green opportunity for the Highway 101 project

AT THE RECENT hearings before the Transportation Authority of Marin board, Caltrans and the Twin Cities' city councils on the Highway 101/Greenbrae Improvement Project, there was a large turnout of Corte Madera and Larkspur residents who were overwhelmingly opposed to the project as it is currently proposed.

The proposed massive flyover — new onramps and offramps at Wornum Drive — and 16 lanes of concrete would be an eyesore and destroy views, increase noise and bring more traffic to the local streets.

It would also create even more of a barrier between our neighborhoods on the east and west side of Highway 101.

The project is being proposed mainly to solve a weaving problem on southbound Highway 101 at Fifer and is overkill. Even with 16 lanes of concrete it will not increase capacity and the cost is a whopping $143 million.

The project would also effectively kill the North-South Greenway. The Greenway is included in the general plans for Corte Madera, Larkspur and Marin and is the first choice of every agency that has looked at it.

The Greenway project would be a safe and separate bike/pedestrian path that would follow the old railway right of way from Wornum Drive, curve along the Shorebird Marsh and then run parallel to the freeway. It would be a level route to the Larkspur Ferry, the Cal Park Tunnel and the Corte Madera neighborhoods to the south.

The Greenway is equally as spectacular as the bike path from Mill Valley to Sausalito. Wornum Drive connects the Sandra Marker Trail to the Greenway. The proposed new onramps and offramps along Wornum would make safe passage for pedestrians and bikes impossible.

A number of concerned residents have formed Marin Deserves Better because we believe that there is a much better alternative than what is now being proposed.

The alternative is simple.

Keep the good elements of the project that are workable. Southbound this might include widening the southbound onramp from Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and installing pylons so that cars coming south on 101 from the north cannot get off on Fifer Avenue. Northbound this might include removing the Lucky Drive off-ramp and replacing it with an off-ramp at Wornum. The existing pedestrian overcrossing at Lucky Drive would remain.

What would be deleted is the huge southbound flyover and the doubling of the width of freeway at Wornum. This would bring the costs way down and leave enough money to complete the North-South Greenway.

A safe and separate link between Sandra Marker Trail and the Greenway could be accomplished with two under-crossings along Wornum Drive, one below Tamal Vista and one below Redwood Highway. Undercrossings are much better than elevated overcrossings because they do not require much change in elevation, making them easier to navigate for children and seniors. Undercrossings are quiet and removed from the noise and speeding cars roaring along the freeway.

They can be engineered to work below sea level and would work even with the rising water levels from global warming. They are used all over the Netherlands in below sea level conditions so there is plenty of engineering history to draw from.

Finding a middle ground that includes less freeway and concrete and the opening of the North-South Greenway would save a great deal of money and bring our bayside and hillside communities together.

We would have a real improvement that all of Marin could be proud of and a gift to future generations. Visit our Facebook page at Marin Deserves Better for more information.

Eric Miller is a real estate attorney and longtime resident of Corte Madera. He is a member of the Corte Madera Bicycle Advisory Committee.